chapter 5

Summary: The betrayal of Leonid Petrovich Solovonov has left the Demon Slayers shaken, some important Characters are now dead, Yushiro's been demonnapped, and the rest of the Demon Slayers have to go and get him back before he can do any worse, along with a mysterious woman from another land who seems to have it in with LPS. Also; fluff & angst!

The sun had barely risen, when the three of them had checked out, and met outside the px33. Shinazugawa Sanemi, Tokito Muichiro, and Tomioka Giyuu had all dawned their old corps uniforms and had their Nichirin blades with them.

'Crap, this should just be a simple thing of giving that guy that medicine' Sanemi thought to himself, 'why the hell are we also tense?'

The free comrades were silent, as Sanemi got behind the wheel, Giyuu on shotgun, and Muichiro climbed into the back seat, pulling a mist-patterned Haori over himself like a blanket.

Once they got on the road with Sanemi driving, Muichiro who had barely managed to keep his eyes closed the night before, finally drifted off to sleep in the backseat of his friend's car. Sanemi hadn't slept much either but he had always been able to function on just a few hours a night, Looking over at Giyuu, he thought that he might have been the only fully awake person in the car, then again, Giyuu always looked tired…

"You're going to be taking the next exit," Giyuu said once Sanemi had turned on to the next highway, after that you should be going straight for about an hour"

"Got it, you should try getting some sleep Tomioka, I'll wake you again when I need you again"

Giyuu just shook his head, "you don't need to worry about me Shinazugawa, I slept fine last night, believe me, you and I have already been through all of this before"Yeah, your right…" Sanemi glanced over at Muichiro, who was sleeping silently. 'That kid hasn't though…'

"You're worried about Tokito?" Giyuu asked, reading Sanemi's mind.

"Not as much as you think, remember, he was a Hashira just like us- (no, we still are Hashira) don't underestimate him, he'll be able to handle himself just fine."

"Shinazugawa, when Tanjiro was turned into a demon temporarily, I tried to kill him in that moment, I would have expected you to have done the same…"

Sanemi twitched, Tomioka had no idea what memories those words were bringing up,

"... But you… you stayed by Tokito's side for weeks while he recovered, you even waited with him before we knew for sure that the medicine worked, you and I both went through our traumas when we were younger, but that was probably the worst fight Tokito had ever been in, and I heard the details of what happened, I remember taking the final selection when I was just a little younger than him, and it took me years to get over it, years!..."

Giyuu rarely spoke with this kind of fervor, "Shinazugawa, you've practically adopted that kid since then, So can you please tell me what you saw him go through if you think he's ready?"

Sanemi clenched his teeth, there was no way he would just tell Giyuu what Muichiro had to go through while he watched him recover, no way he was going to betray that kid's privacy and break their confidentiality.

"You did the same for Tanjiro didn't you?" He questioned back, "that kid also went through hell and back, but he's still a fighter all the same"

"Tanjiro was more mature than Muichiro, he's more like you, In the sense that you both had to be responsible older brothers even before you became demon slayers."

This conversation was getting too personal and Sanemi was getting annoyed.

"Why the hell are we even having this conversation? We're just gonna be there for extra security while that demon gets turned back into a human anyways,. So there's nothing to worry about okay? We'll just do this stupid task and then get back to our lives, so I don't we change the subject? We should catch up anyway"

"Have it your way then," said Giyuu reclining back in his seat. "I am not one for idle chit-chat"...

...

"We're about halfway there now," Giyuu said after they had been driving for just under two hours.

"That's a relief," said Sanemi perking up, "we got an early start, so we should make there before noon, stop worrying Tomioka!" He said punching Giyuu in the arm, "you'll be back out there scoring chicks by supper time!" Giyuu just rolled his eyes.

Just then, they heard whimpering from the back seat, Sanemi reassumed that knowing look and glanced back.

Muichiro was no longer sleeping soundly, his face was scrunched up in pain, and he had broken out into a cold sweat, Sanemi had seen him like this more times than he had cared to count, It was just a question of whether it was Kokushibo his brother or both.

"Himejima-San… Gyomei" he croaked out.

"He's just having a nightmare," Sanemi said calmly keeping his eyes on the road, "why don't wake him up?

Giyuu turned around to snap him out of it but Muichiro woke up on his own before the latter even touched him.

"Sanemi!" He blurted out frantically, "can you please pull over? I need to get out!"

Sanemi did not even hesitate, he pulled to the side of the road, and Muichiro had bolted out of the door before the car had even fully stopped.

Sanemi and Giyuu both exited just in time to see their Junior on his hands and knees vomiting.

'Maybe Tomioka was right' Sanemi thought to himself, but he wasn't going to admit that to Giyuu.

"Shinazugawa,"

Sanemi looked up to see Giyuu on the other side of the car with an I-told-you so look on his face.

"I'm going to take this opportunity to stretch my legs a bit" and then walked off.

Sanemi heaved a sigh and walked over to Muichiro who was coughing and trying to catch his breath, and meltdown patting him several times on the back.

"I'm sorry he said, I-"

"Quit being sorry" Sanemi interrupted him, "You think I would have brought you along if this was going to be dangerous? We're going to be fine"

"I know I know I just…"

"Let it out kid, c'mon, it's just me"

"I.. I ate them… I was a demon and I ate them!" Muichiro said horrified. "I know it was just a dream but… I think I need a minute."

Sanemi understood, he sat by the boy, rubbing his back until his trembling had subsided, then he gave him some water to rinse his mouth out, went to the bushes to take a piss, And then all three of them got back into the car, and continued down the road.

The woman had arrived at the house on the base of Mt. Sagiri… Only too late, she could smell the stench of blood and burnt flesh before she got there, and when she reached the house, her fears were confirmed. The entire roof of the building had been blown away in a fierce fight, and the demon was nowhere to be seen, and the morning light revealed two corpses. Lying on the Veranda outside the house was one of an older man wearing a blue cloud-patterned Haori, his body was covered in Lichtenberg Figures from burst blood vessels, his eyes were rolled to the back of his head and his muscles were ridged, no doubt from one of Stuhac's lightning attacks

The woman knelt down, closed his eyes for him, and ran into the house, little of the walls still remained, but It still shielded her eyes from the outside from the second corps, a younger man, also with white hair though, she could not see his face clearly as it was hanging down from a wooden steak on which the body had pierced itself, and in one of his arms, he was holding the hilt of a broken Nichirin blade, another victim of Solovonov! Suddenly, she sensed it, there was another human being in this house, and this one was alive! She definitely heard it, the sound of a child trembling in fear.

Hurriedly making her way to one of the corners, she pulled away a fallen piece of wooden debris startling the boy who was hiding behind it, he wore a purple flower-patterned Kimono, and large eyes, for a moment, their eyes met.

She did not speak any Japanese and doubted that this boy would understand her language anyways, besides, even if he did, he looked too shaken up to be able to tell her anything, she would find that demon her own way! She knew how to track him.

She left the destroyed house; and headed west, following the demon's trail

"Damn him! That Solovonov escaped again! I won't let him keep getting away! I will find him in this country! I, Zaya daughter of Gan will bring him down no matter what!" and with these words, and clenched teeth, she fled the scene, just as Kiriya followed her outside, and as a Mitsubishi PX33 came into view.

The three Slayers recognized immediately that something was wrong before they even got there, Sanemi slammed on the breaks right before the wreckage of the house, Ubuyashiki Kiriya was standing in front waiting for them… alone, already a bad sign.

"What happened here!?" demanded Sanemi as he got out slamming the door behind him, Giyuu and Muichiro following closely behind.

"Solovonov... " Kiriya managed to get out, "Left me alive to tell you… took Yushiro with him..." Kiriya fell on his knees and began to cry.

"I'm not ready for this!" he sobbed, "This was all because I took him too lightly, what's wrong with me!?"

"It was all of our faults," Giyuu said maintaining his distance as Muichiro knelt down to comfort their young boss, "We all took him lightly," he said this as he walked on, and stopped when he came to Urokodaki's corpse… the corpse of his master, Urokodaki Sakonji.

"Sensei..." Giyuu had always been mentally prepared for anything… It did not change the fact that the man who had been like a father to him, who cared for him and Sabito for years, who taught him more than any other man… Was now dead at his feet.TENGENNN!" He heard Muichiro's voice cry out, he hadn't even noticed the three of them passing him, as he looked up and saw Muichiro's small body hugging Tengen's much larger corpse, trying to pry it off of the wooden stake on which it was stuck while wailing with agonized sobs.

By later in the day, the rest of the corps had arrived, along with Tengen's three wives who were summoned immediately after, Tanjiro and Nezuko were already crying before they had arrived, when Muichiro saw them, he and Tanjiro threw themselves into each other's arms.

As Sakonji and Tengen were buried, their tears did not subside. Of Tengen's three wives, Hinatsuru cried like a baby, Suma sobbed uncontrollably. Makio tried to hold it together but was no better than the other two. Only Tomioka Giyuu was nowhere to be seen.

After he had finished praying, Tanjiro noticed this fact. He put a hand on Nezuko's shoulder, and quietly excused himself.

A little deeper in the woods, he found Giyuu, sitting with his back to a tree, Giyuu turned his head when he noticed his junior… like him, Tanjiro also loved Sakonji.

He stood up and looked Tanjiro in the eyes. He opened his mouth to say something, but nothing came out, tears flooded his eyes and rolled down his cheeks instead. Giyuu had never been one to let his emotions come out in front of others, but now it was Tanjiro who stood before him, the two brothers who had learned Water-Breathing under the same sensei, brothers under the same father-figure, embraced, and cried openly together.As later explained at a meeting by Kiriya with Kuina and Kanata at his side; He, Yushiro and Tengen along with a Kakushi driver had been the first to arrive on the scene, the demon Stuhac had already attacked Urokodaki Sakonji shortly before they arrived, Yushiro and Tengen joined the fight immediately, but the demon was strong.

His abilities from what Kiriya had observed; were lightning attacks, in addition to physical prowess that was high even by upper moon standards, and more importantly; he did not disintegrate in the sunlight.

Stuhac had killed Urokodaki and Uzui, and taken Yushiro hostage, and then told Kiriya in perfect Japanese, that he would leave him alive so that he could tell the others what he had seen.

After that, a mysterious woman had come to the house and then ran off at great speeds in the same direction which Stuhac had fled.

"Now" the young leader continued. "We still do not know what Stuhac is planning, but we know for sure that he lied to us, and whatever his plot may be, we cannot allow him to get his hands on Lady Tamayo's serum, which is why now, our top priority will be to retrieve Yushiro at any cost."

"But first we have to find out where he is" interjected Shinazugawa.

"I already have an idea of how we can do that Sanemi," said Kiriya, "and it will involve you, you will find Stuhac's translator, Shu Yong, Tengen's wives have already managed to gain the information on when his ship sails, you will get him to tell us everything he knows, you, Shinazugawa Sanemi, I am putting in charge of this mission.

Sanemi's eyes widened. "I am grateful that you put this trust in me master Kiriya-Sama, I will not fail you, I will avenge our comrades, that I swear to you!" The fact that Sanemi spoke with anger gurgling in these words made everyone in the room know that he meant it.And as for the rest of you who will go on this mission," Kiriya continued, "Tokito Muichiro, Tomioka Giyuu, Hashibira Inosuke, and Agatsuma Zenitsu, please lend me your strength."

All five Demon slayer's whose names were mentioned; affirmed their determination, even Inosuke and Zenitsu who were not pillars before; neither of them tried to argue, neither of them complained or panicked at the prospect of being sent to find another demon, every man in that room knew their duty.

"As for you, Kamado Tanjiro, Tsuyuri Kanao" he now addressed these two slayers who might have been wondering why their names hadn't been mentioned. "You two have done enough, and with your injuries from the fight against Muzan and Upper Moon two, I cannot ask any more of you."

Kanao opened her mouth to protest, but quickly noticing the look on Tanjiro was giving her; decided against it. The two of them would discuss this later…

"Muichiro, come with me" Sanemi said seriously as the meeting came to an end, "We need to talk."

"O-Okay," Muichiro answered, a little startled by Sanemi's tone.

He followed his senior outside, it was a warm July night, Sanemi turned around, crossed his arms, and looked at Muichiro sternly.

"Mui… You'll be turning 15 next month right?"

"Y- Yes!" Muichiro was taken aback, partly because he had no Idea what Sanemi wanted him for, but mostly because he had just been called 'Mui' for almost four years now, nobody had ever called him by the shortened version of his name, the last person who had ever called him 'Mui' was...

"Your not coming on this mission," Sanemi told him, "I wanted to tell you about it before I told my decision to Kiriya-Sama, you will stay here with Tanjiro and Kanao, and support us from a distance."

"But why!?" Muichiro protested, "I am not wounded! I can fight!"

"No you can't!" Sanemi said raising his voice, and once again startling his colleague. "Look at you? Your shaking just because I've yelled at you! How will you face off against a demon like this!?"

"Sanemi wait!"

"You've been like this ever since the fight with Kokushibo, your still shaken from it! No, you've been that way since before, you've always had a chip on your shoulder, and what happened that night just made it worse, you need to rest Muichiro, out there you'd just be a danger to yourself..."

Sanemi could see Muichiro was shaking with indignation, he knew that what he was saying was right. But would still try to argue… little brothers always did that.Your constantly having nightmares, constantly freezing up in the middle of the day, pissing in your goddamn sheets at least once a week, you damn near ruined my backseat just this morning! Do you honestly think your ready to go demon fighting again!?"

His words were harsh and he knew it, but he absolutely had to hammer this point across, he wouldn't even Give Muichiro the chance to argue.

"When I faced Kokushibo" Muichiro began to answer, "when I faced him I was terrified, I couldn't even move, but when the time came to fight him I made myself move! Even though I was weak compared to you and Himejima-San, even though I was bleeding to death, I didn't run away, I stayed by your sides and fought! And Genya didn't run away either!"

"Watch it kid!" Sanemi warned him.

"I'm not afraid to die!" Muichiro said holding his ground, "Im afraid to watch others die while I do nothing!"

Now it was Sanemi's turn to be startled, Muichiro had taken a step towards him as he said this, his fist were balled and his teeth were grit, and how could he even begin to argue with those words? Fuck! Sanemi knew exactly what he meant, by them. He sighed… It seems Muichiro was the type to control his fears better under pressure anyways, he walked over to him with a softened expression.

"Alright Mui," he said softly, putting a hand on his shoulder, You can come with us, but please, don't say that your not afraid to die..."

Muichiro looked up to see Sanemi looking down at him, with eyes were not angry, he wasn't thinking less of him, that look in his eyes told all.

"...Because I am worried about that, so just don't ever say those bullshit words again, okay? "

"Okay..." Muichiro's voice was cracking, his cheeks were getting wet, he felt Sanemi's hand on his head, and was soon crying into the fabric of Sanemi's shirt.Chapter epilogue.

Around the same time as these events took place, Tanjiro found Hinatsuru, and had to have his own private talk with her.

He found her looking out of her window at the night sky, her eyes still red from crying over her husband.

"Hinatsuru-San" Tanjiro Began, "I am very sorry for your loss."

"Thank you Tanjiro," she said. Tengen really liked you a lot ya'know.

Tanjiro felt his eyes start to fill up with tears again, but he continued to ask "Did Uzui-San know?... did he know that you are pregnant with his child?..."